


Wild

by draconicsockpuppet



Category: The Boy Who Cried Wolf - Aesop
Genre: Gen, Poverty, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25535113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draconicsockpuppet/pseuds/draconicsockpuppet
Summary: Enzo was twelve when his sister shifted for the first time.
Relationships: The Boy & The Wolf (The Boy Who Cried Wolf)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 15
Collections: Juletide 2020





	Wild

**Author's Note:**

  * For [silveradept](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveradept/gifts).



Mother and Father had gone into the woods every night of a full moon, ever since Enzo could remember. And then one night, they never came back: the same night that the village hunters tracked down and slaughtered a pack of wolves before dawn.

Enzo was twelve when his sister shifted for the first time. He went to sleep on the matted straw floor of the hut they were forced into after being orphaned, and woke to a face full of fangs and slobber. Luckily, he was a quiet child; if he'd screamed, Adelina would likely have met their parents' fate that night.

Instead, she loped off to the woods and brought back a fat juicy rabbit to share. Enzo roasted it over the fire and cracked the carcass along the back, and together they devoured half-raw, half-burnt meat until their bellies were full.

Enzo's task was to watch the village's sheep and blow on an ox-horn should a predator threaten the flock as they grazed. Adelina worked in the fields, but after a few close calls when the moon rose during the day, she took up foraging instead. Between Enzo's days spent out on the lush hillside, surrounded by tall emerald grass and fluffy, stupid sheep, and Adelina's baskets of mushrooms and herbs, they managed to just barely pay the taxes on their shelter.

'Twas the wolf that kept them well-fed.

Their parents had never mentioned the wolf, so Enzo and Adelina had no idea if he would shift as she did when he grew old enough. If he did, they would no longer be able to afford their home.

If he did, they would be free and able to roam the wilds and never return.

The moon rose and set, as was its way, and Adelina grew into a lovely young woman, though too shy and quiet to accept any of her suitors. Meanwhile Enzo shot up in height to rival and then surpass his sister, as his voice cracked and whiskers began to sprout on his face.

And then the moon rose at sunset, and Enzo changed with it.

They couldn't stay.

He waited out the three days of the full moon, bringing the sheep in early, and then he and Adeline put their plan into action. After all, while they _could_ change at any time when the moon was in the sky, they were only forced to do so while the moon shone full and bright. They had twenty-six days before they were again in danger of discovery.

Enzo began to blow his horn; not every day, but every few. "Wolf!" he cried out as the sheep placidly grazed. At first, men and women came running up from the fields to protect their precious sheep, but as he kept calling, fewer and fewer came, and when they did, they berated him sharply for wasting their time.

On the twentieth day, no one answered Enzo's call, and Adelina struck, carrying off a fat lamb that belonged to the mayor. Enzo dropped his horn and staff and followed, letting the change come upon him as he ripped out a ram's neck. Hot, delicious blood sprayed over his snout.

The flock bleated and broke, sheep running everywhere, their eyes wide with terror. Enzo licked at his jowls and ran into the woods as heads raised in the fields below.

By the time the field workers reached the hillside, it was far too late.

Enzo and Adelina feasted well that night on fresh lamb, deep in the forest with owls hooting above them as the gibbous moon rose. Their fur was as comfortable as any straw, and when the rain came, they shook it off and ran on, tongues lolling, eyes bright.

Free.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Demitas for beta reading.


End file.
